Geelong United Supercats lose by 11 points to the Waverley Falcons in the NBL1 South preliminary final

The Supercats took the court without star player Chantel Horvat, who was ruled out through injury, but their starters battled hard to keep Geelong in the contest.

It was a close game in the first half, with the home side down by just five points going into the main break.

Monica Okoye picked up her fourth foul early in the third quarter, and Ella Tofaeono also ended up with four fouls late in the third, giving the Supercats less options against Falcons big Carly Ernst, who finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

By the fourth quarter, Waverley was firmly in control, leading by as much as 17 points off the back of some sharp shooting from Bec Cole (23 points).

With the game all but over, Sarah Elsworthy fouled out with 30 seconds left and finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Agnieszka Skobel was a standout for the Supercats, with her defensive pressure leading her to six steals for the game — all but one resulting in a made basket on her way to 18 points.

Head coach Matthew Paton said that while it wasn’t the way they wanted to finish the season, he was proud of his team and all they had achieved.

“We have faced a lot of adversity this year, and even to make it this far, it’s a credit to the girls,” Paton said.

“We would have loved to have Chantel out there, but we knew early she wasn’t going to play, and we have been missing players like Chantel and Monica before for the FIBA Asia Cup, so there’s no excuses there, we knew what we had to do and unfortunately we couldn’t get it done.”

Originally published as Geelong United Supercats lose by 11 points to the Waverley Falcons in the NBL1 South preliminary final